


Desert Storms

by obaewankenope (rexthranduil)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, The Mummy (1999)
Genre: Anakin Skywalker Hates Sand, Desert, Established Relationship, Gen, M/M, Prompt Fic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-05 20:00:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19047361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rexthranduil/pseuds/obaewankenope
Summary: "I told you not to let Snips drive." Anakin looked at Obi-Wan with a smug expression."Ifyou'dbeen piloting we'd have ended up in that river instead of sand!" Ahsoka exclaimed, shoving into a Anakin's side with her elbow. "At least we didn't have to swim out way out of a wreck!"





	Desert Storms

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Dragon for this awesome prompt! Unfortunately tumblr is a *********** * ****** * ******** ** and I hate everything. But here. It's on AO3 too now. For added pleasure.

"I told you not to let Snips drive." Anakin looked at Obi-Wan with a smug expression.

"If _you'd_ been piloting we'd have ended up in that river instead of sand!" Ahsoka exclaimed, shoving into a Anakin's side with her elbow. "At least we didn't have to swim out way out of a wreck!"

"No, just digged," Anakin threw back, smirking at his padawan who scowled at him.

Obi-Wan sighed. Honestly, for a master and padawan pair they acted more like two siblings squabbling over whatever reason they'd thought of now.

That probably made _him_ the single father with a possible drinking problem, Obi-Wan thought. Well, not drinking problem. More like inability to get black out drunk ever since Garen had given him that damned alcohol the lunatic had spent a month brewing in his quarters.

"Just be glad our supplies weren't damaged beyond repair," Obi-Wan told them both, watching them with his best 'I'm not amused' expression. He'd learnt it from Mace as an initiate.

Mace hadn't been amused with Obi-Wan _a lot_ as a kid.

"We have another two hours before nightfall, that gives us enough time to reach those ruins we picked up before scanners died, general." Cody — bless him — cut in before Anakin or Ahsoka could say anything. There were times when Obi-Wan could very happily kiss that man.

And times when it was very much inappropriate to think about that fact.

Anakin walked in time with Obi-Wan across the sands, the look on his face very much the look one has when they're forced to step in something foul. In Obi-wan's lifetime he'd stepped, crawled, dug, and hidden in all manner of foul things to the point where so long as he didn't ingest it he didn't care.

Anakin was very obvious in his dislike of sand. Not the substance itself, Obi-Wan knew Anakin hated mud too for its fantastic ability to ruin boots and robes in too high a quantity. No, Anakin's hatred of the sand stemmed from his upbringing.

From before.

Before he was found. Before the Jedi rediscovered the Sith. Before Qui-Gon. Just before- before _everything_.

Ahsoka, the brilliant young padawan that she was, recognised the way Anakin seemed to draw inwards, distance himself from everything whenever they ended up on planets with sand. Fortunately, she'd never seen him in the midst of puberty stuck in a sand dune.

That had been Obi-wan's honour.

"I understand why you hate sand so much general Skywalker," Rex said suddenly, breaking the quiet silence that had fallen over the five of them. The only ones to have made it out of the airship alive.

As a group, they all looked at Rex.

"Gets right in those creases and chafes." The captain elaborated, garnering a snort of laughter from Cody.

"Ain't that right," Cody agreed, shaking his head. There was sand in his eyebrows for Force's sake! How had he even—

Obi-Wan frowned as he realised the wind was picking up, that was why Cody had sand in his eyebrows. It was slight, barely noticeable to anyone who had little experience with sandy terrain.

Cody and Rex both had only ever experienced sand on Geonosis. A blessing and a curse really.

"Sandstorm." Anakin said, head turned away from them, nose angled up as he scented the air. Obi-Wan automatically did the same. It was dry.

Damn, I'd rather it rain, he thought, unimpressed with the way things were going. A sandstorm could kill them all.

"We have the tent in the emergency terrain kit."

Obi-Wan looked at Ahsoka. The young padawan was calm and collected, even though he recognised a spark of unease in her large eyes.

"That'll have to do," Obi-Wan said, instantly moving toward Rex who had the kit stowed on his back. It wasn't a large kit, but there was a beauty in military grade packing; it was more efficient than Jedi organisation. And that was saying something.

"We shouldn't pitch under a dune," Anakin gave Obi-Wan an assessing gaze.

Obi-Wan realised that Anakin didn't know how many desert worlds Obi-Wan had visited over the years. In his mind, Anakin knew more about the desert than his master.

He may not be wrong, Anakin grew up in the desert, Obi-Wan admitted, nodding at his padawan. "Or in a dip with dunes on all sides."

Anakin's eyebrows shot up for a moment in surprise. Yes Anakin, Obi-Wan thought, I know things about desert storms too.

They quickly found a decent enough spot, pitching the tent with extra long pikes to keep it grounded. They also used whatever they had to try and weight it but, unfortunately, they didn't have much in the way of heavy material. Considering that they were on foot, this wasn't a surprise.

 

* * *

 

"How long do sandstorms last?" Ahsoka asked later on, almost an hour into the storm.

As far as Obi-Wan was aware, they weren't yet buried in the sand. The tent was holding up fairly well and there was little in the way of any real weight being exerted on the material by shifting sand. Still, it wasn't wise to assume safety in the middle of a sandstorm.

"Depends on where you are, the climate, time of the year, how strong the wind is," Anakin answered, eyes flicking to his padawan who stared at him. "Only thing we can do is wait it out for now."

Four hours later, Obi-Wan and Anakin sat together near the entrance to the tent. They'd had to start using the Force to prevent the sand from spreading inside two hours ago. Ahsoka didn't know, Anakin had insisted she get some rest with Rex so she could take over for them in a couple hours.

"This storm," Obi-Wan began, frowning. Anakin looked at him. "It- do you think it happens to feel a little…"

"Unnatural?" Anakin guessed and Obi-Wan nodded.

"You know the desert better than I do Anakin," Obi-Wan explained when Anakin remained silent. "I value your opinion on this."

His padawan bit his lip and glanced around the tent at their little group.

"It feels like there's something in the sand trying to pull the life out of everything," Anakin whispered. "I heard stories of storms like this on Tatooine before Naboo but I only ever experienced one. It was like- like- like the whole of Mos Espa was sitting in the mouth of some hungry monster that wanted to swallow us up but couldn't seem to manage it."

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan. "It terrified me."

Obi-Wan stared at his padawan, processing and analysing his words. Although the way Anakin put it wasn't how Obi-Wan would have… It was similar to how Obi-Wan felt about the situation himself.

"How did the storm end?" Obi-Wan asked his padawan.

Anakin grimaced.

"One of the older slaves went out into the storm and it just—" he waved a hand "—disappeared. Her too."

Ah, Obi-Wan thought, that's a bit not good.

"Yeah," Anakin agreed, reading Obi-wan's expression. "Exactly."

"We'll have to figure something out then." Obi-Wan looked at the others in the tent. "I have no desire to see anyone die today if I can help it."

"Right back at you master," Anakin said, giving Obi-Wan a slight smile. "Maybe we can use the Force to push the sandstorm away from us?"

Obi-Wan considered the idea. "I had been thinking on that possibility myself," he confessed after a moment. "I'm not quite sure how we'd manage it however."

Anakin watched him. "Through the Force, all things are possible," he quoted, giving Obi-Wan a knowing look. "Right?"

Obi-Wan snorted out a laugh. "If Master Yoda could hear you now," he said, smiling at his padawan. "He'd do a jig with his gimmer stick, I swear."

Anakin laughed as well. "Oh I'd love to see that."

Obi-Wan nodded. "You and the rest of the Order."

They fell into a companionable silence then after a long moment. Silence that remained until Rex and Cody woke up to take the next shift. Ahsoka woke a minute or so after the Clones, scrambling over to Anakin's side.

"You've been keeping the sand out, haven't you?"

Ahsoka never had been one for subtly. Obi-Wan reminded himself that they'd need to rectify that at some point. Preferably before they were buried in a sand dune.

"Yes Snips. It's not much, but even a small amount can become dangerous if we're not careful." Anakin, to his credit, was honest with his padawan. Not even phased by her annoyance at their not telling her earlier. "Just make sure to keep it a few feet away from the entrance and to push it to the sides of the tent, that way it shouldn't topple on us and should naturally divert around us."

"Should?"

Anakin shrugged.

"It's sand," he said, raising his hands up, "it's not exactly predictable."

Obi-Wan snorted. That was an understatement.

Anakin shot his master an annoyed look that Ahsoka picked up on, smirking at how Obi-Wan could sass him without actually _saying anything_.

Obi-Wan prided himself on that ability. It had irritated dozens of criminals to the point of irrationality in the past. Qui-Gon as well.

"We'll rest for three hours, hopefully by then the storm will have passed." Obi-Wan knelt down on one of the sleep rolls they had in the kit. Anakin dropped down onto another. "Do _not_ leave this tent without waking us. Anyone."

Cody and Rex exchanged looks at Obi-wan's order, but nodded at him so Obi-Wan just sighed, lay down and slept.

 

* * *

 

He woke up to sand in his mouth.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan choked, spitting out sand as he sat bolt upright. Next to him, Anakin did the same, lightsaber in hand.

_"What the fuck!"_

Anakin summed up Obi-wan's feelings neatly as he looked around the tent. Or what was left of it. One of the walls had collapsed under the weight, sand spilling across the expanse of the tent and half-burying them. The entrance was clear and beyond the flapping material, Obi-Wan spied the tell-tale flash of green-blue that marked this planets atmosphere.

The storm was gone.

Unfortunately, so we're Ahsoka, Rex and Cody.

 _Shit_.

"Where the hell are they!" Anakin near shouted, shoving past the flaps of the entrance to the tent and storming across the sand.

Obi-Wan followed. Their supplies were ruined, as was the tent. All they had was literally their lightsabers and whatever was stored on the belts.

Two bacta kits, a half-dozen ration bars and a litre of water. Obi-Wan sighed. _Great_.

He turned around slowly, spotting a tall enough dune for his purpose. Ignoring Anakin kicking at the sand in frustration, Obi-Wan made quick work of scaling up the sand, making certain to keep his feet angled sideways and to climb in a diagonal rather than straight up.

At the top, he looked around the expanse of sandy desert, noting, with some surprise, that there were buildings of some sort a klik to their east. Narrowing his eyes, Obi-Wan used the Force to enhance his vision — a simple trick his master had taught him one day on Hoth when he been freezing his balls off, literally.

There was someone there, at the edge of those buildings half-buried in the sand. Someone in white armour.

"One klik east of us!" Obi-Wan called down to Anakin who whirled round to look at him.

"What?"

"Rex or Cody are one klik east by some sort of structure." Obi-Wan touched his lightsaber on his belt, making sure it was still functional. The soft humming of the kyber crystals within reassuring and grounding him.

"What kind of structure?" Anakin asked even as he followed Obi-Wan away from their ruined tent.

"Not quite sure," Obi-Wan answered. "From what I could see, I would hazard a guess as to it having been a temple or palace or something along those lines for whatever people once lived in this region."

" _Great_."

Obi-Wan sighed. It was like he was back on the sandball planet with a moody teenager all over again.

Well, he thought, at least only sand has tried to kill me here, that's an improvement.

If Obi-Wan had had any idea what lay in store for them all inside that ruined structure, he'd have happily kicked himself for tempting fate.

 

* * *

 

"What _is_ that thing!" Rex bellowed, reloading the slugthrower he'd found in the ruins. His own blaster had died a valiant death in a bid to slow down… _whatever_ it was chasing them.

"Don't know, _don't fucking care!"_ Cody shouted over his shoulder, keeping Ahsoka close to him as they all ran.

Obi-Wan and Anakin covered their retreat, throwing anything and everything they could at the… _creature_ with the Force. It didn't do much but every inch of ground they gained was another second of not being strangled by some desiccated remains that had obtained sentience.

"Remind me to strike desert planets from my mission roster when we get back," he told Anakin, lobbing a slab of rock easily as thick as Obi-Wan was tall at the creature. It dodged out of the way with far too much grace than was remotely acceptable.

"Only if I get to do the same!" Anakin replied, throwing his own slab of rock at the creature. It clipped its side and caused it to stumble.

"Seconded!" Ahsoka piped up.

Rex joined in. "Thirded!"

"All of us can strike them for karks sake! Just keep running!"

Obi-Wan found Cody's command to be _most_ amenable.

"Roof?" Anakin queried as they finally reached the way out of the damned nightmare maze.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Roof."

As one they turned on their heels, stopping just outside the entrance to the temple structure. Hands raised, they focused on the ceiling and, in perfect tandem, pulled down.

The ceiling collapsed in on itself with an immense tearing of stone and wood. Sand billowed, blocking them from seeing the result of their action for a long two minutes.

Cody, Rex, and Ahsoka had all stopped a hundred yards away, panting heavily. Obi-Wan glanced at them, recognising the expression on the two Clones as the one they wore when they had to make a choice between saving one life or saving a hundred.

Obi-Wan knew they'd get Ahsoka to safety no matter what.

"I really hope we just buried that damned thing," Anakin muttered.

"As do I," Obi-Wan replied, shaking sand out of his hair.

They were both watching, waiting, the Force dancing in their veins as they readied themselves for whatever else happened.

The sound of an airship arriving above them almost had the pair of them throwing a stone pillar at it.

"Karking hell!"

Anakin let out a surprised laugh at hearing his master swear.

"Let's get off this dustball." Rex reached up and gripped one of the ropes hanging from the airship the moment they were close enough for him to grab. Ahsoka and Cody both did the same.

Obi-Wan and Anakin looked at each other. "Definitely." They agreed at the same time.

No more desert planets for them.

 _Ever_.

**Author's Note:**

> I know there's no real crossover here but, this is what my brain wanted, so this is what it wrote. Apologies.


End file.
